Bedside Manner
by QChronoD
Summary: Little vignettes about how Harry and Hermione spent time in the hospital. AU based on notes from my eternally delayed story Destined by Fate.
1. Chapter 1

I had a couple of hospital wing scenes in my notes for Destined by Fate, and they were some of the easiest ones to write before I ended up quitting that story. Over the years, I slowly added a couple more full scenes, and added some notes on other times that I wanted to include. They jump around in time, but I hope you enjoy them anyway.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey had been the school nurse at Hogwarts for nearly 50 years. During her career, she had never lost a student die under her care. Some had lost their magic, a few had been permanently disabled, and one poor boy had never awoken from his coma, but no one had died on her watch, and it seemed that was be the case today.

"I've done all that I can. The bones should mend by late tomorrow, the cuts will close in the next two days though they will leave some scars. It will be several days before we know if the damage to the nerves is permanent, and from what I am able to detect, he has retained his magic, but will need to wait for it to replenish naturally. All we can do for now is just wait for him to awaken." She gently rested her hand on the young witches shoulder and walked back to her office to put away her supplies.

Sitting in a chair next to the only occupied bed, was a young witch with long curly hair and dark brown eyes. She was holding the hand of the young man, quietly talking to him while occasionally brushing away the tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Please, you have to wake up. I won't let you leave me like this. I'm not going to let go until you open your eyes."

Looking out through the door to her office, Madam Pomfrey sighed wistfully at the scene. It was one that she had grown accustomed to over the years, though it meant that the pair had been through more pain and suffering then anyone deserved.


	2. Chapter 2

Turning away from the doors, Madam Pomfrey decided to go check on her patients again since it didn't seem like the headmaster was going to come to his senses any time soon. A quick wave of her wand, and a muttered incantation and the status charts instantly began updating themselves. The Weasley boy was perfectly fine, there never was a reason for him to have been brought to the infirmary in the first place. Shaking her head again at Albus poking his nose into everyone's affairs, the healer was pleased to see that the girl's ankle was healing nicely, and the few cuts were already fading. She was lucky to get away with that minor of an injury after being cornered by a troll.

It was the other young boy that had her a bit worried. She wasn't too concerned about the cuts and bruises, though there was some internal bleeding it was minor and easy healed. Luckily the shattered ribs hadn't punctured the lungs or he may not have survived to reach her ward, they would heal by morning but still be sore for a few days. The three fractured vertebrae were of some concern, mostly because most nerve damage wouldn't be apparent until she was able to examine him while conscious. It was her hope that there was nothing more serious than a little tingling in his legs that would naturally fade.

Pomfrey replaced the charts and spent a few minutes watching her patients. Surprisingly the boy started to shift and whimpered as if having a nightmare, something he shouldn't be able to do while under dreamless sleep. Before she even had a chance to cast a diagnosis spell, the girl rolled on her side to face him and reached her hand in his direction. As she watched, he turned his head back to face his companion and rolled his hand palm up. If there wasn't 3 feet of space between the beds, Madam Pomfrey would have sworn that the two were laying next to each other holding hands.


	3. Chapter 3

"Right then, you're all patched up Mr. Potter, but you are not to leave that bed until I say so. You need to keep those bandages in place for the salve to work on the burns." Finished cleaning up the empty bottles and scraps of linen, she gave him another long hard look. "Will that be acceptable to you? Or do I need to give you some dreamless sleep?"

"NO! Uh.. I mean, no thanks. Thats fine. I don't much feel like going back out there again. Um, would it be ok if anyone visited?"

"Yes, I'll allow it. Just be mindful of the bandages. I'll let them know you want to see them now." With that, she turned to the entrance of the tent, hiding a tiny smirk.

Before Harry had time to arrange his pillows in a more comfortable pile, he was engulfed by his best friend and nearly tumbled out of the bed. Reaching around with his uninjured arm, he held her tight as he began to feel her shudder. He could feel her warm breath on his shoulder, and her hot tears on his neck, and all he could do was stroke his hand through her hair, and repeat that he was going to be fine.

After a few minutes, she began to relax and shift into a more comfortable position against him as he leaned back in the bed. Slowly, he brought up his other arm, wincing as the skin on his back and shoulder pulled painfully, and began to wipe the tears from her cheek.

"I'm sorry Hermione."

"What?! What are you sorry for? There's nothing for..." trailing off when he put his fingers over her mouth.

Moving his hand to brush away a few more tears, he continued, "I made you cry. It was never my intention to make you upset."

Hermione reached up and took his hand in hers, a final tear falling when she noticed him wince when his shoulder flexed again. "Oh Harry. I know it wasn't your intention, but you know how I worry for you. And the dragon was enormous, and those spikes on the tail. I was afraid that it was going to catch you."

"But I'm the Youngest Seeker in a Century and The Boy Who Lived. No grumpy, little dragon will ever catch me on my broom," he smirked.

With a sniffle and a sigh, Hermione leaned against his good side and lay her head on his shoulder. "Just promise that you won't go flying with dragons on your broom again."

"Fine, no more dragons. How about a chimera?"

* * *

A/N: I have about a dozen scenes now, added a few more yesterday and spent some time cleaning up others. Not sure how many more I'll end up with since I feel that I've covered almost all of the main cannon points (even though I've changed around some things). I'm finding my biggest problem, in this and my other stories, is mixing description with dialog. I tend to end up with large walls of text which I've been told can be hard to read, or alternating 1-2 lines of each which feels choppy to me.


	4. Chapter 4

"I've never been to the ocean. Well, Uncle Vernon took us to the coast once, they only brought be along 'cause Mrs. Figg was ill, and me and Dudders spent the whole time in the hotel. But no, I've never been to a proper beach and all that."

"Oh, then we're definitely going to go. I can even teach you to swim. I'll have to get my dad to pick up a pair of swim trunks for you because we both know your relatives won't. I'll probably have to get a new suit as well, since I doubt I still fit into my old one. Do you think I should go with a two-piece this time?"

"What do you need two pieces for?"

"HARRY! I will NOT be going to a topless beach!"

"No! Wait, no. Ahhh, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. Honest!"

Giggling at her friend's cluelessness, Hermione reached across and took Harry's hand. "I realized that. I was just teasing you."

The sound of Madam Pomfrey clearing her throat made them let go and settled down in each of their beds.

With the lights turned down, they continued the discussion in soft whispers.

"Yeah, I can't wait. I wonder how long it will be until Sirius comes to pick me up."


	5. Chapter 5

"Honestly Harry, you really shouldn't have left the potions essay until the night before it was due. You knew that you had a game today and we both know that you would never get this written with everyone one else in the house celebrating another victory."

Looking up from his arm, Harry tried to give his friend his best puppy dog eyes. "But Hermione, I can't write the essay. My arm doesn't have any bloody bones in it. Look!" He poked his arm a few times, snickering at the weird feelings. "Snape docked me 10 points for 'illegible chicken scratch' last week, and I've never even tried to write with my left hand before."

"Excuse me you two, but I have two last potions for you Mr. Potter. The first is for you arm, to regrow the bones, and the second is a dreamless sleep. Unfortunately I can't give you anything for the pain, though it shouldn't be any worse than when you arm falls asleep."

Madam Pomfrey handed Harry a large goblet with the nastiest potion he had seen yet. Taking a deep breath, he tried to swallow it as fast as possible and hopefully not taste any, though the smell itself nearly made him gag. "Very good, not everyone manages to keep it down the first time. Now I'll let you wait and take the dreamless sleep later if you wish, but no later than 8 o'clock. I shall count on you to remind him, Miss Granger."

"Yes ma'am, I'll make sure he takes it before I go." Hermione nodded eagerly as the healer made some last notes to the chart and headed back to her office.

"Thanks Hermione, I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

"It's my pleasure. Now, back to your potions essay, I realize that you can't possibly be expected to write something tonight, so you'll just have to dictate and I will write it out for you. This way you only need to copy it in your own handwriting tomorrow before class." Without seeing the look of despair on Harry's face, Hermione started pulling what looked like half of the library out of her bag and proceeded to get situated to begin.


	6. Chapter 6

She could have sworn that her heart stopped beating when he disappeared, and it wasn't till he reappeared nearly an hour later that she felt she could breath. Now that he was safe, the tears started to come and it seemed like they'd never stop. Sitting at his bedside, Hermione took his hand with both of hers so she knew that he was still there. Soon she could feel small tremors in his arm, like he was shivering, but they quickly built up until his whole body was shaking almost violently. "Madam Pomfrey, please hurry. Something's wrong with Harry." She called out for the healer while trying to hold him down on the mattress.

"What's wrong Miss Granger?" But it was instantly apparent that he was having seizures once she came around his curtains. "Oh dear, he must have been put under the cruciatus. It's known to occasionally cause a reaction with most pain potions. Move back and I'll secure him, I need you to get me the blue potion on the top shelf and a goblet. Incarcerous."

...

Something woke her up. Looking around, it took Hermione a few minutes to notice that Harry was moving. Actually it looked like he was dreaming, but that shouldn't be possible after taking two doses on dreamless sleep. Standing up to go fetch Madam Pomfrey, Hermione gave Harry's hand a quick squeeze, and froze when she thought he said something. Leaning in closer, she brushed a few strands of hair off of his brow, and distinctly heard him say 'mum'.

It barely took a second for Hermione to make up her mind, and with that done, she cast a silencio and an impervious on the curtains. Taking a deep breath, she kicked off her shoes and slowly climbed onto Harry's bed, sliding him over so she had enough room. Once she was sure that neither were going to fall off during the night, Hermione began to slowly run her fingers through her friend's hair and start to softly sing some of the lullabies her mother sang to her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey, I brought my notes for today's lessons again. I know that they're still probably not as good as you take, but I like to think that I'm getting better at it. Neville said that he'd try to remember to make a copy of his herbology notes since Ron won't admit that he borrowed mine from last week. I'm keeping him away from the rest so that nothing else gets lost. That way you can go over them again once you're better.

He settled down on the chair and quickly arranged his books and scrolls on the table next to the bed. Quietly he began to read through his notes and that days chapters from the text.

…..

"... said that was why you had to use a curl with a flick at the end. I still don't see what the difference really is but Su was nodding along, so I guess it made sense to her. Hopefully you can explain this all to me later and I can understand it."

Finished with the notes, he packed everything away and shifted the bag on his shoulder.

Reaching out, he puts his hand over hers, frowning at fact that it still felt cold and stiff like a statue, not at all how he knows it should be. With a sigh, he turns to leave the wing nodding to Madam Pomfrey on the way out.


	8. Chapter 8

Sitting in that chair, holding her hand between his own, the rest of the world had faded away. He knew that Madam Pomfrey was talking, but nothing in him was able to focus on what she was saying. Barely even aware of when she stopped and went back to her office, Harry was only able to see her lying there, and watched in his mind, over and over, as the curse struck her from behind. The look of surprise was mixed with something he couldn't quite place.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." Weeping, he brought their hands up so he could feel her against his cheek.

"It was my choice to go. Even after no one would listen to us, I still wanted to run off and do something. I should have tried to call him, or used the floo, or even sent a note with Hedwig. She would have been able to find me by the time we actually got there."

Taking a few deep breaths, he wiped the tears from his eyes and reached out to brush his fingers through her hair.

"You shouldn't have come with. It was too dangerous, especially since we thought HE'd be there. I never want to see you get hurt again. I know what it's like now, to sit here, helpless, and not know. I'd do anything if it would help. Anything at all, I swear it."

Leaning down, he buried his face in her tresses and whispered, "Don't leave me. You can't, I need you. I'll always need you."


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh, and what have you done to yourself today Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey strode out of her office as she noticed the pair bursting into the infirmary.

"It's not me, Hermione has been really sick all morning."

"Well, I guess the Potter charm kicked in a bit early. It was only really a matter of time seeing as how close you two are, though I wasn't really expecting this for another year or two."

Harry was clueless to what Poppy was alluding to, but Hermione was all too aware and began to blush and stammer a denial.

"It's, it's not that ma'am. Just cramps, and, and ah, a bit of an upset stomach. We're not, um, well, you know." Hermione promptly turned bright red and started to chew on her bottom lip.

Madam Pomfrey gave a quick flick and twirl of her want in Hermione's direction, and with a nod at the dull green glow, plucked a bright pink potion from the rack. "Here you go dear, next time it's this strong feel free to pop in before breakfast. This will help settle your stomach as well."

All the while, Harry kept looking back and forth furrowing his brow to try and figure out what was wrong with his friend. "Is she ok? What was wrong? Will I be getting sick too?"

About to explode from embarrassment, Hermione was almost too shocked at his questions to hear the mediwitch tell them to have a seat so she could explain.

….

Ron came into the dorm, finally finding Harry, "Hey mate, is Hermione going to be ok?" Harry jumped from his bed and ran to the bathroom holding his hand over his mouth. Ron looks at Neville "what's up with him?" Neville just shrugs and goes back to reading.


	10. Chapter 10

Quietly the main doors opened and closed seemingly on their own, followed shortly by a rustle of the curtains surrounding one of the petrified victims.

Pulling back the cloak to reveal his face, he silently pulled up the chair and gazed down at his friend.

'She must have been terrified.'

Every time he came in, it was the first thought that crossed his mind. It upset him that he could recognize the look on her face, but he had seen it before. It was because of him that she was in here. It was because of everyone blaming him for the attacks that she headed to the library after breakfast.

"Why? You should have been down in the stands. You were supposed to be in the front row cheering for me. Why did you stay in the library for so long?"

He reached out to hold her hand, but instead of just resting it on top, he wrapped his fingers around hers.

"I don't think I can do this without you. We still haven't been able to figure out what's causing it. They've sacked Dumbledore and came to arrest Hagrid. Everyone's saying that they're going to close the school soon.

"I don't want to go back already. I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave you," he whispered with a tear rolling down his cheek. "I miss you so much, I'd do anything to have you wake up."

Leaning in, he rested his head on her shoulder and tightened his grip on her hand. Feeling something brush his fingertip, bent around her arm to see the corner of a scrap of parchment poking out under one of her fingers.


	11. Chapter 11

Waiting at his bedside was a lot harder that she thought. Every other time they were in here, either she was in a bed as well, or it was just a quick trip and they were gone again. But sitting here, perfectly alright while he was lying there bandaged up was more tiring than she would have ever imagined.

"You really are a great wizard Harry. You're much better than me. I'm just a bunch of books and cleverness."

Resting her head on the mattress, she held one of his hands, running her thumb back and forth along the back of his.

"You've shown me that there are more important things in the world. Making friends, ones that stay even if you nag them about their classwork. Finding courage, especially to be able to go up to a complete stranger and ask them for help. And also… *yawn*"

Closing her eyes, she gave his hand a small squeeze. "And also … to fall … in … love…"

Quietly drifting off to sleep, Hermione thought she felt him actually squeeze back.

* * *

A/N: Only have one more written which was always meant to be the final scene. Not sure if I want to put it up now or wait and see if I end up writing any more scenes for this group. I've used up most of the key points in the original story, and I never got past the end of the first year in my notes.


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